


Proving Ground

by Claireton



Category: Dying Light (Video Game)
Genre: I know it's pathetic but what can I say, Multi, One Shot, Parkour I guess, Profanity, Reader got the hots for Crane, Reader is gender neutral but kinda feminine I guess i cant really write it any other way, Reader is young but no specific age idk?? soz, Small time skips, Zombies, gender neutral reader, i think im overdoing the tags, obviously why else would you read it, ok ill stop now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-18 23:29:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5947363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claireton/pseuds/Claireton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The reader needs to go on a few runs with Crane to get the experience to become an official Runner, but when he refuses, they decide to prove their own worth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Proving Ground

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy! Sorry if anyone reading is waiting on an update to Change of Plan, but I simply wanted to do this more.
> 
> Also, I believe I hold the honour of being the first person pathetic enough to publish any 'x reader' Dying Light fanfics! Hooray! After all, you probably don't know what excuse I give myself for writing fics for nonexistent fandoms while simultaneously making me feel smart because it is a quote by Toni Morrison;
> 
> "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."
> 
> Except.. y'know.. with fanfiction in place of a book.

"No way, (firstname)." Crane repeated, shaking his head as he looked over a machete for sale by the Tower's trader.

"Oh, come on Crane!" you insisted, frowning as you leaned against the wall behind him, arms folded.

"No, (firstname)." he answered again, his voice notably more assertive.

"It's too dangerous."

For the past three days you had been demanding that Crane let you accompany him on his way outside the Tower, whether it was on a supply run or to do a job for someone. And for the past three days he had refused. It was getting to the point where you could sense him getting more than a bit aggravated, but nonetheless you persisted. You weren't hopeless; In good shape, and flexible, you were one of the most qualified in the Tower for the job. Still, Brecken refused to let you become a Runner because of your lack of experience, declaring that you would have to go with someone else for a few runs until he could be assured that you had the hang of things. To you, it felt more like the reason was your relatively young age in comparison to the others, which annoyed you to no end. Each time Crane told you to go ask another Runner, you just responded that he was the runner you trusted the most. That _was_ true, to an extent, but there was another reason.

Crane was not a man that was hard to look at.

"It's _not_ dangerous, Crane! I know what I'm doing!" you barked. Obviously it _was_ dangerous, but how and ever.

"Forget it, kid. Go help Lena or something if you wanna be useful." he replied dismissively, handing the trader some cash in exchange for the weapon, which he sheathed on his back.

You clenched your fists as you unfolded your arms, stepping to the side slightly to block the exit as he headed for it. Admittedly, it looked more than a bit silly, blocking someone taller and stronger than you, but your fiery determination meant you cared little. Crane was affected little by your display, and simply chuckled at you in a way that made it feel as though your blood were pure fire.

"Cute. Why'ncha go try that on Brecken, see if it makes him change his mind?" he suggested, casually placing a hand on your shoulder and guiding you out of the way. Somewhere deep inside, his touch made you go wild, though you managed to deny it showing.

Right as he passed, you heard his radio crackle to life, with Brecken's voice coming through.

"Any Runners on standby in the tower?" he asked.

"I'm here, Brecken. What's up?" Crane responded into it.

"Lena needs some more equipment; gauze, syringes, you know the deal. Says there's a pharmacy near the gas station. Have you looked there yet?"

"Uh, no, don't think so." Crane answered, shaking his head despite talking into a radio.

"I just gotta give some crayons to Kate for the kids and I'll head straight there."

A response came through the radio, but you were too invested in thinking of a plan to pay much attention. You knew a job that needed to get done, you had the skills to do it, and it would end up helping everyone in the Tower. What other reason did you need? True, Brecken might get upset that you had disobeyed him, but surely if you proved your capability he would understand? In truth, he didn't seem like somebody you wanted to get on the bad side of. There was little time to dawdle on details, however. Crane would be leaving any second, and you couldn't let him leave before you.

You stepped out of the small room, watching as Crane walked down the hallway. The moment his body left your sight you bolted straight for the elevator. Moments later you were headed for the collapsed staircase when a voice stopped you.

"Hey! You going out?" the man behind the desk asked, looking to you with an eyebrow perked.

"Uh, y-yeah." you responded, fearing he would realize and alert someone.

"Well, I don't see any weapons on you. You new? Better take these." he stated, laying a rather large, sheathed knife and a radio on the desk before looking back to a magazine he held in hand.

Your heart relaxed considerably, and you let out a relieved sigh as you moved over and picked up the knife.

"Thanks." you said, clipping the items onto your trousers.

"Be careful out there." he warned, though his gaze didn't travel from his magazine again.

You nodded, heading for the staircase. You expected the guard to stop you, though he didn't seem to care all that much, simply regarding you as you loosed a tense breath and hopped down, crouching slightly to soften the landing. You headed round to the main entrance, suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed at it all. Not only was it your first time leaving the Tower since you had gotten there, you were doing so without permission, and purposefully preparing to enter the zombie filled town on a run. You steeled yourself with a quick breath and stepped out. At least it was still the early morning.

\--

You came to a stop, regaining your breath after your journey. You had been jumping and climbing from roof to roof for a while now, and the pharmacy in question was only a few buildings away. In spite of the danger, or perhaps because of it, being out the way you were was quite a thrill. Exploring the city in such a way, for the benefits of both the Tower and your own skills, gave way to exhilarating emotions that you hoped would only continue by Brecken letting you begin proper work as a Runner. You had just gotten your breath back and were prepared to take off again when your radio came to life with chatter.

"(Firstname)?! (Firstname)!" Crane's voice called through, noticeably worried.

You groaned and unhooked the device, holding it up and looking at it. For a moment, you considered just not answering, but ultimately you couldn't see that going well. Reluctantly, you pressed the communication button and brought it closer to your mouth.

"W-what?" you responded, cursing yourself for stuttering out of some nervousness.

Your question was met with a loud crackle from the radio, after a moment of which you recognized as sighing.

"Christ, you're still alive." Crane stated, his voice laden with relief.

Chills wracked your body as it became evident how worried he was about you, but you shook them off in favour of determination to complete your mission.

"Now tell me where you are so I can bring you back here and kick your ass." he ordered.

"I'm getting the meds for Lena, Crane. And I'm almost done, so forget about me coming back until I'm ready." you stated resolutely. You knew that this was only going to be met with objection, so you put the radio back on your trousers and began running for the roof's edge.

You leapt forward, easily making the jump to the next roof and continuing without breaking speed. After vaulting over an air conditioning unit, you regarded the next building with some uncertainty. It was taller than it had seemed from a distance, but it was the last one before the pharmacy, and you were fairly certain that with a good jump you could grab the edge and pull yourself up.

You reached the edge of the roof, grunting with effort as you leaped from the edge, hands outstretched. The bases of your fingers clasped the roof's edge, but the angle at which you had jumped had the rest of your body swinging until it smacked into the hard concrete, leaving you winded. In a tizzy of panic, your fingers began slipping as you fought to regain your breath. Instinctively, your head snapped downward to judge the height of the fall. Even if  _that_ didn't kill you, the undead gathering below would definitely finish you off as you lay there with broken limbs. Though you managed to regain your breath, your fingers slipped more and more with each second, leaving you immensely panicked. A cry of fear left your lips as they lost grip entirely, leaving you hurtling towards the ground with your arms still outstretched.

In spite of the loss of velocity and sudden pain in your arms, it took a few seconds to realize that your hands had miraculously grabbed onto a window sill on the building's side. you looked up to them, in too much shock to do much of anything else for a few moments. Preferring not to question your luck, you looked down again to find yourself dangling mere feet from the extended arms of the biters below. After a time to catch your breath again, you managed to barrel through the pain in your arms and hoist yourself up to other ledges in the building's side, slowly but surely making your way back to the roof. Once there, you raised yourself over the edge in a final bout of strength and rolled onto your back on the concrete, looking up to the sky and finally allowing yourself to go over the events in your head. There was no use sugarcoating it: You had almost died. If that window hadn't been there, you would have. Without warning, all of those times Crane had insisted it was too dangerous came rushing to your mind. Though you could appreciate it better now, it still brought a tinge of anger that spurred you into getting back to your feet. The fact that you lived just proved how capable you were, luck or not.

You made way to the other side of the roof, looking down at the pharmacy and taking a breath of preparation. Almost there, no need to stop now. You lowered yourself to the edge of a billboard on the building's side, judging the height of the drop to the pharmacy's roof. With a successful roll, it shouldn't be too bad. You took a small step back, the billboard not allowing much more than that, before launching yourself toward the pharmacy. With the wind rushing your ears, you momentarily regretted your choice, but thankfully, you managed to tuck into a roll the moment you hit solid concrete. The motion saved your legs any trauma, though in your excitement you overestimated and sprawled onto the roof, briefly grinding your face against the concrete.

With a pained curse, you sat up and pressed a hand to your face, hissing at the stinging sensation when you did so. When you withdrew the hand, small trickles of blood lay on it, leading you to shake your head in self disapproval. Without doubt, that was going to be used as ammo against you in the argument that would ensue back at the Tower. Regardless, you got back to your feet and made way to a square opening in the pharmacy's roof, peeking in. Compared to the outside light, it seemed quite dark inside, sending chills throughout your body. Your fingers ghosted around the sheathed knife's hilt, and with a sharp breath you lowered yourself through the hole, landing with satisfying quietness.

You froze in the hallway for what felt like an eternity, waiting to see if any biters were about to come around and surprise you. When there was nothing to be seen or heard, you drew your knife and held it the way you had seen others do, pausing for one last look down the hallway before checking on the hole you had come through. It was higher than you had estimated, certainly higher than you could jump and grab on to. After the job, you supposed you would just have to find another way out. You faced forward again, moving down the hallway at an agonizingly slow pace. The hairs all across your body stood on end, and your mouth felt as though it were sandpaper as you anticipated something to leap out of the shadows and take a bite out of you. However, the only movement in the area was your own, and once you entered a room with medical cabinet in view, you relaxed considerably, heading straight for it. After sheathing your knife, you tugged at the cabinet door, which ended up taking a considerable amount of force to open. You smiled with accomplishment upon finding a plethora of supplies inside, taking them and carefully storing them on your person. You turned to go, but the thought struck your mind to look for more. Surely if that cabinet had been full, there would be more? You paced around the room, eventually coming to look in a glass counter at the front. There _were_ a few items inside, though you didn't want to risk any kind of alarm going off if you tried to open it. Reluctantly, you switched your gaze throughout the room until a closet against the wall caught your attention. You approached, noting the key ring still stuck in the lock. With a scoff at your luck, you turned them and pulled open the closet expectantly. There was a moment where time seemed to freeze, with the biter inside seemingly coming to life and you staring at it, frozen.

It lunged at you, and you let out a cry, stumbling back and losing your footing, collapsing to your back. The biter followed suit, falling to the ground just in front of you and viciously grasping your leg. Panicked, you tried to shake it off, but the grip would not be broken. Its scarred, rotting mouth pulled open and began to zone in on your calf, just barely grazing it when your other leg extended into the biter's face, knocking it off track. The grip stayed just as strong, however, and it took a flurry of frenzied kicks before at last it loosened enough for you to extract yourself. After crawling back a fair distance you scrambled to your feet, adrenaline surging through your body and leaving you shaking. After turning, you found the biter climbing to its own feet, and a million different plans of action rushed through your head. You could try to run, but for the moment you didn't know another way out. Besides, there could have been many more medical supplies in the pharmacy, and you couldn't just let all the people at the Tower down to save your own skin. How hard could it be to kill a biter, anyway? All you had to do was go for the head.

You pulled out your knife, regarding the biter shambling toward you with uncertainty.Trying to judge its path, you ultimately decided on meeting it halfway in its pursuit. You raised the knife slightly above your head, taking a sharp breath in preparation as you stepped toward it. Its arms extended again, though before it could grab you you plunged the knife downward. Too late you realized the biter had cocked its head in preparation to bite you, and the knife landed off course, burying itself deep in its cheek. Without the chance to rectify your error, the biter continued, entirely unphased by the weapon jutting out of its face. In panic, your hands left the knife's hilt and instead rose in front of you in defence, connecting with the biter's shoulders and barely keeping him at bay. With grunts of effort, you managed to keep it out of biting distance, watching its mouth gnash at you in desperate want. As long as you could keep this up, you were relatively safe, but you knew that it wasn't going to last forever. Summoning any strength you could within yourself, you pushed the biter back, though from your position, it was harder to push it back more than a few inches. Within your struggle, a rush of thoughts plagued your mind; This was all your fault. Brecken had told you to go out with someone before running solo. Crane had said countless times that you weren't ready, but you hadn't listened to either of them, and now you were going to die for it. It was no one's fault but your own. Defeated, you had just began to give up and relax your arms when all of the weight was suddenly ripped from you with a grunt of effort. In disbelief, you could only watch lamely as Crane spun the biter around himself and tossed it against the glass cabinet, making the loud crashing ring throughout the building. Your body was frozen with your brain still trying to catch up, even as you watched him bury his machete in the biter's skull, stopping it moving entirely. After he retrieved the weapon, his eyes came to rest on you, in a gaze that was difficult to ascertain the emotion of.

He sheathed the machete as he approached, and in spite of your state you managed to mutter a breathy "Thanks."

"Are you okay?" he asked, resting his hands on your shoulders and looking at you with concern. Even with your shock, you could still feel fire exploding throughout the parts of your body he touched.

You nodded slowly, suddenly overwhelmed by feelings that had previously only been slight.

"Good." he replied shortly. The punch directed at your bicep, though certainly not full strength, was enough to knock you back to your senses.

"Ow!" you grunted, frowning as you raised the other hand to your arm and rubbed it.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Crane demanded, glaring at you with his arms now folded.

"You could have died! You almost did!"

Past your more intimate feelings, a mixture of anger and indignation grew, totally overpowering them and any feelings of embarrassment.

"I was trying to help, Crane! Look how far I got! I already have the meds!" you retorted, pulling out the items in question and showing them to him.

Crane looked down to them, and paused briefly before looking back up to you. Whatever it was in his gaze; a mixture of disappointment, pity and so much more you couldn't identify, it simply broke something inside you and you felt the backs of your eyes burn with threatened tears.

"I just wanted to help, Crane." you reiterated, your voice breaking with sadness.

"I can't just sit in the Tower all day and watch everyone risk their lives while I just take up space."

A single tear broke out and you turned your head away, wiping it off with your free hand. Embarrassment rose in you as you thought about how pathetic you must have looked to Crane. Here you were demanding to be allowed leave the Tower whenever you wanted to, and here you were sniveling like a child because someone gave out to you. You felt Crane gently take the meds from your grasp, and after there was a heavy silence as you tried to force yourself to stop being upset. There was a sigh from in front of you before he spoke.

"Look, (firstname)..." Crane trailed off, his voice much more gentle than it had been moments earlier.

"Don't- I didn't mean t- Shit.." he muttered.

You shook your head, wiping your hand over your face one last time to ensure it wasn't wet, and hoping it wasn't too red. Unfortunately, the latter didn't seem to seem to come true, as Crane's troubled gaze seemed to tell you.

"Sorry." you apologized, your voice almost a whisper, and adding a weak smile for good measure.

Crane's hand came to rest on your shoulder, and you could have sworn your heart was doing somersaults.

"Let's just get ya' back to the tower, kid." he said, his voice more gentle than you had ever heard before.

You nodded and Crane did the same before letting go of you and heading to the pharmacy's next room, where the entrance lay. He cursed under his breath upon finding the door barricaded, with a thick metal grate over it to boot. You followed him over, cautiously regarding the dead biter on the floor as you went, and eventually coming to stop beside him.

"Don't suppose you got a blowtorch on ya?" Crane asked lamely.

You snorted and shook your head.

"Great, so we gotta find the key to _this_ then." he stated, nodding to a small button on the wall that was guarded by a locked cover. By the looks of it, it controlled a large metal shutter that spanned half of the entrance's wall.

"Wanna bet it's in the dead guy's pocket?" you asked, you and Crane looking at each other before turning to the body on the floor.

A brief search by Crane revealed your question as true, and he unlocked the panel, turning to you after.

"There might be a few freaks outside, I didn't get the chance to check before I came in. Just stay back and be ready." he ordered.

You nodded and took a few small steps back, then suddenly remembered your knife.

"Wait!" you called, leaving Crane to watch as you pulled the weapon from the corpse's cheek and returned to position.

"Okay, now."

Crane nodded, and after small hesitation, pressed the button. The sound of metal grinding together as the shutters pulled up drowned out almost every other, even the collection of growls that came from the biters now swarming the store.

"Fuck!" Crane roared, both of you retreating further into the store.

More biters than you could count in your panic entered the store. Your gaze frantically leaped from one to the other, trying to gauge which one to give most priority to. Crane kicked one that was ahead of the others, sending it back and causing a domino effect amongst some of the group.

"Come on!" he ordered as he turned, gripping your arm and roughly pulling you back to the first room. You both looked around desperately as the biters approached the room, though you personally couldn't see anything of any help; all of the windows were heavily boarded and there were no other exits. You whipped around, about to ask Crane if he had a plan, when he threw you to the ground and unsheathed his machete.

"Crane, what are you-" you began, stopping as he plunged his machete into the dead biter's body and splitting it open.

"What are you doing?!" you asked in bewilderment, too confused and shocked to even try to get up.

Without a word, Crane sheathed his weapon again and plunged his hands into the crevice he had made, making you flinch with disgust. It only became worse when Crane began to smear the contents of the corpse onto his body, coating his clothes and skin in a viscous combination of flesh, pus, and blood. You were totally lost in confusion, fearing that the whole situation had just caused Crane to snap, and it didn't help when he sprinted back and practically fell onto you, covering most all of your body with his own.

"Crane, what the hell-" you tried, but his hand clasping over your mouth cut you short. The smell of the substance on his skin was enough to elicit a bile response which you barely contained.

"Shut up, and don't move." he ordered under his breath, releasing your mouth once you nodded.

Though you were still massively confused, you had grown to trust Crane over your time knowing him, and you tried to figure out what he was doing. Looking around much as you were able without moving your head, you quickly noticed that the biters didn't seem to be coming for you anymore. Most of the group lingered as if you had never existed before shuffling out of the room, leaving only three dawdling aimlessly around the room. With the realization of what was going on, you relaxed to an extent, but there was another factor that prevented you being able to relax fully; Crane was literally lying on top of you. To his credit, he seemed to be trying to distribute some weight to his elbows on other side of you, so you weren't subjected to his full weight, but nonetheless it was an intense sensation. Knowing you were safe from the biters, you stopped paying attention to them almost entirely, instead looking up at Crane, who himself was still watching them. Some part of you was embarrassed to stare, but in fairness, there wasn't much place else to look.

To your shame, you were barely able to stop yourself trying to touch him, just resisting enough to lay there looking. To you, it barely felt like any time had passed, but when Crane spoke up it seemed otherwise.

"Alright, I think that's the last of 'em." he muttered.

His gaze turned to you when you didn't answer, and in that moment it were as if fireworks were going off in your chest. Even through the nauseating smell and your entire situation, you felt your cheeks flare as he looked down at you, but it was too late to look away now, so you held the stare. Crane did too, and for a few moments it seemed that all there was was the two of you, staring at each other. His eyes seemed to flicker down the length of your body before he shook his head and climbed off of you, offering you a hand once he was up. Grateful for the hand, though disappointed otherwise, you took it and stood up, wiping whatever remnants of the corpse were on you off. Crane did the same, though he didn't seem to care as much. After an awkward silence of you not knowing what to say, Crane cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, uh...that was- that was close." he stated.

"Yeah." you nodded, too busy thinking about Crane's earlier position to think of a more sophisticated response.

"Should we go?" you asked, rubbing your hands together meekly.

"Uh.." Crane drew out the vowel before clearing his throat again loudly.

"Let's try look around the room a little more. I'm- uh, I'm not ready to go just yet." he mumbled, turning away from you and starting to 'inspect' a bookshelf that clearly had nothing of use on it.

You shrugged to yourself and complied, turning around. You realized you had forgotten about the contents of the glass counter, which, now smashed open by way of Crane, was no obstacle in retrieving them. You collected the bits and pieces, putting them away and smiling to yourself in accomplishment.

"Crane? Are you there?" Brecken's voice suddenly called through the radio.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm here." Crane answered into his device.

 "Is (firstname) there? Is (s)he alright?" Brecken continued hurriedly.

This time, it was your turn to pick up your radio and activate it.

"Ye-yeah, Brecken, I'm fine." you answered hesitantly.  Worrying thoughts of Brecken Rage crossed your mind.

"Oh, thank Christ." Brecken sighed.

"Jus- just get back here in one piece, alright? I'll deal with you after."

The line cut off and you sighed, resigning to your fate in favour of actually getting the chance to experience it.

"So, you ready?" Crane asked.

You nodded and let him lead the way to the front room, which at this point had been evacuated entirely by the biters.

\-----

"And I swear, if you _ever_ pull anything like that again, I'll see to it that you never step foot outside of this Tower again. Have you got that?" Brecken growled.

You nodded for what felt like the hundredth time at Brecken's speech on the danger of your actions. Any actual intimidation you had felt had slowly worn off until you were left feeling more indignant than anything by the end of it all.

"Good. Now, go ask Lena to clean you up." he ordered, turning away briefly but then turning back with one finger held up and pointed toward you.

"Which, by the way, she wouldn't have to do if you had just followed my orders."

"Yeah, I get it Brecken." you snapped. You half expected him to explode at you but he simply turned again and waved a hand in dismissal.

You left the room, stepping out to find Crane leaning against the wall opposite, arms folded and one foot braced against it.

"So, you're still alive." he joked, a smirk gracing his stubbled face.

You scoffed and nodded.

"Yeah."

"I could hear Brecken clear out here." Crane continued, starting to walk along side you as you strolled toward Lena's treatment room.

"Yeah, he really can shout." you reflected blankly, with a wry smile.

"He was worried about you, (firstname)." Crane stated matter of factly.

"So was I. We all were."

You looked to Crane with a weak smile, unsure how to respond to the statement.

"Hey, why'ncha come to my room, and I'll fix you up myself. Lena's got enough on her hands right now." Crane offered.

His gaze connected with yours as he awaited your answer, with what seemed a certain pleading buried behind the otherwise normal gaze.

"Sure, why not?" you responded, offering a warmer smile as your heart began to flutter with excitement.

After making your way to his room, you sat down on Crane's bed while he pulled out a cloth and some alcohol. You tilted the damaged part of your face toward the light, taking a quick breath in anticipation.

"Alright, so sit still and let me get this done." he said tenderly, dabbing the cloth with alcohol and raising it to your cheek.

You hissed quietly once it made contact, though it wasn't as bad as you had anticipated and eventually you settled into it. A few gentle dabs later and you heard Crane grunt lowly.

"Aw, shit.." he muttered, moving slightly closer and looking more intensely at your cheek.

"What? What is it?" you wondered, a tinge of worry appearing in you.

"Jeez, (firstname)...." Crane trailed off, scratching the stubble on the side of his face as if deeply troubled.

"I'unno how to tell you this."

"What? What is it Crane?" you asked again, becoming more and more worried with each second. Were you bitten? Thoughts of mad rushes for Antizin and turning into a biter flooded your mind near instantly.

"Well, your- your face is just too damaged. We'll have to remove it." he concluded, his expression downcast.

You stared at him blankly, a mix of different emotions flooding through you. When he finally raised his gaze again to smirk at you, you pressed your hand into his face and pushed his head back, shaking your head with a reproachful smile.

"You're an asshole." you chided.

Crane chuckled and folded the cloth, putting it away before sitting beside you on the bed.

"Sorry. That's the last of my payback for scaring me to death." he claimed, perking an eyebrow and looking at you with a grin that almost made you drool.

With that, new thoughts came to your mind. Did Crane really care about you _that_ much? The mere idea of it gave you chills, but you had to be sure.

"U-uh, yeah.. about that Crane." you murmured, rubbing your arm idly. Suddenly you felt under immense pressure, and became hyper aware of every movement Crane was making. At that moment, for example, he was switching his gaze between both of your eyes, and rolling his thumbs over each other as his hands were clasped between his knees.

"Wh-why _were_ you so worried?" you asked.

"I mean, don't get me wrong I appreciate it, but... why? We're not even that close."

You looked to him, awaiting an answer. His eyes were opened the tiniest bit more than usual as though he were surprised by the question, and he kept you in a nearly vacant stare. After a few moments, his eyes snapped shut and he shook his head ever so slightly before clearing his throat.

"Well... I.." he began, stopping to sigh slowly and clear his throat again. His eyes traveled toward the floor and he raised a hand to rub the back of his neck slowly as he spoke.

"I care about you, (firstname)." he admitted.

"M-more than most people."

Though his gaze hadn't risen, it didn't stop you boring into the side of his head with a stare. It seemed almost to good to be true, and the chills enveloping your being were almost starting to become dull with their familiarity.

"Really?" you blurted out, sounding a little more desperate than you had intended, but you wanted to be sure.

" 'Course I do, (firstname)." Crane confirmed.

"Why do you think I didn't wanna let you go on runs with me?"

With that last question, he lifted his gaze to meet yours again, with you in too much disbelief to even an attempt an answer. A silence formed between the two of you, and before you had even realized, his hand was caressing the side of your face, guiding it onto his own in a kiss that left you feeling on the verge of passing out.

"Promise me you won't do any more stupid shit so you can stay alive long enough to let me do that a couple more times." Crane requested.

You scoffed, smiling through the blush storming your cheeks.

"I promise."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! As usual, I found myself posting a fic after midnight, so if you spot any mistakes I would appreciate it if you told me so I can fix them!
> 
> After publish note: 5555 words! Ha!


End file.
